Biology

Physiology

Gastly appears to be nothing more that a black ball of ghostly matter that is surrounded by a purple glow. Gastly has big, white eyes and a mouth with a pair of fangs in it. Gastly's face is apparently similar to Cloyster's, but the two Pokémon aren't related.

Gender differences

None.

Special abilities

Due to having a body made of gas, Gastly can slip into any place it wants. However, Gastly's body will dwindle away when exposed to a strong wind (but it can probably regenerate itself later). A Gastly is capable of toppling an Indian Elephant within two seconds by enveloping it in poisonous gas.

Habitat

Diet

In the anime

Gastly first appeared in The Ghost of Maiden's Peak. This Gastly had the ability to talk and shape-shift. He kept posing himself as the spirit of the woman which legend said turned to stone after many years of waiting for her love to return to her. Gastly kept on toying with the minds of young men. Brock and James just happened to become victims of Gastly's trickery.

A pair of Gastly were among a group of Ghost Pokémon living in an abandoned mine in Fear Factor Phony. The Ghost Pokémon couldn't stand the partying Psychic Pokémon that lived in the nearby town, so they created a Haunter-like illusion to scare everyone away.

Gastly is largely composed of gaseous matter. When exposed to a strong wind, the gaseous body quickly dwindles away. Groups of this Pokémon cluster under the eaves of houses to escape the ravages of wind.

Gastly is largely composed of gaseous matter. When exposed to a strong wind, the gaseous body quickly dwindles away. Groups of this Pokémon cluster under the eaves of houses to escape the ravages of wind.

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Trivia

Gastly sprites in Red, Blue, and Green have an error. Its black orb in the middle of its body is not present in said games. This was fixed in Yellow.

Even though Yellow is a game made nearly the same time as Red and Blue, Gastly's back sprite was also fixed in Yellow, while all other Generation I Pokémon have the same back sprites for Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow.

Despite all of them being Poison type, Gastly together with its evolutionary family, are not able to learn Template:Type2 moves by leveling up.

Origin

It seems to be simply based on general cartoonish ghosts, or maybe a will o' the wisp. Although, the expression on its face makes it based on a Boo in the Super Mario series.

Name origin

Gastly's name origin may be a combination of gas and ghastly, dreadfully frightening or horrible. Its Japanese name Ghos (ゴース) is simply a shortened form of ghost and may also incorporate gas into its name. Its French name is a corrupt version of phantom.